The Kamino system was a star system located above the galactic plane, within a loose unnamed grouping sector of stars at the lower end of the satellite galaxy known as the Rishi Maze. Its aging primary sun was orbited by thirteen planets, out of which the fourth, Faa and the fifth, Kamino were terrestrial.

Kamino had once been a world largely covered with land, but an an abrupt climate change around 19,000 BBY melted its glaciers, submerging the landmasses beneath hundreds of meters of seawater in two centuries. The sentient inhabitants of the planet, the Kaminoans lost their dryland cities and architectural treasures, such as the capitalDerem City and the Clock Spires of Harai Nova. However, their technology permitted them to move into stilted cities rising above the global ocean, and their genetic knowledge made the preservation of many drowned species possible through cloning. Such engineering also shaped the Kaminoans themselves into a nearly uniform race.

The shattering of the Empire in 4 ABY brought about an economic collapse on Kamino, which was forced to survive on smaller contracts, often with warlords or gangsters—a practice the world was still holding in 43 ABY.

The Kaminoanspecies, long-necked humanoids, evolved on Kamino, the fifth planet in the system. They soon developed the coasts of their largely landlocked world, building cities like Derem City. However, a climate change in 19,000 BBY melted Kamino's glaciers, and two centuries later, all landmasses were submerged beneath several hundred meters of seawater. The Kaminoans moved into stilted cities rising above the ocean, and their knowledge of genetics allowed the preservation of several drowned species through controlled cloning. Genetics also shaped the Kaminoans: their attempts at reaching perfection resulted in a near uniformity of thought, appearance and mannerism.[3]